Posts Tagged: tropical milkweed
Honey Bees Do Love That Milkweed

Don't tell the honey bees. They will forage where they want to--whether it's on bee balm, a...
A honey bee nectars on tropical milkweed, while another bee gets ready to join her. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
These two honey bees can't get enough of this tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bees and tropical milkweed blossoms make for a pretty image. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Hi, I'm a Jumping Spider

Hi, I'm a jumping spider. I see that you found me on the tropical milkweed, Asclepias...
A jumping spider, member of the Salticidae family, perches on a tropical milkweed plant and eyes the photographer. Friend or foe? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Welcome to the World of Monarchs, Greta!

Welcome to the world of monarchs, Greta! We don't normally name the monarch butterflies we rear,...
This monarch caterpillar was reared from an egg collected on a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The newly eclosed monarch caterpillar named "Greta" latches onto a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Greta, a monarch butterfly reared from an egg, is anxious to get where she's going. And fast. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Monarch butterflies start out as a near microscopic egg. This image was taken with a Canon MPE-65mm lens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
After hatching from egg to larva (caterpillar), it eats its shell and then begins munching on milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The monarch caterpillar munches milkweed; it will go through five instars. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The jade-green monarch chrysalis is one of nature's jewels. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Bee-Line Toward the Tropical Milkweed

Honey bees just can't get enough of our tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. We...
A honey bee forages on tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in a Vacaville pollinator garden on July 27. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee makes a beeline for the tropical milkweed,Asclepias curassavica. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee nectaring on the tropical milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Up, up and away toward the next tropical milkweed blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee takes flight, returning to her colony. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Monarch Is Like a Stained Glass Window

Ever seen a back-lit monarch butterfly? It's like a stained-glass window in a...
A monarch butterfly, looking like a stained glass window, rises from a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, on Aug. 7 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Up, up and away. The monarch rises from a tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, on Aug. 7 in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)